Colombian Nairo Quintana (Movistar) staked his claim on the 2016 Volta a Catalunya, placing second on the ‘queen’ mountain stage to Port Ainé behind stage winner Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) to take the overall lead.

De Gendt took a solo victory after spending the day in the break, and managed to hold off the group of overall contenders behind him. It’s De Gendt’s first victory since he won a stage in the same race in 2013.

Quintana finished one minute and eight seconds behind De Gendt after he had attacked the chasing group of favourites. Defending champion Richie Porte (BMC) just pipped Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) to take third place on the stage.

Thomas De Gendt wins stage four of the 2016 Volta a Catalunya

Quintana now leads Contador by eight seconds overall, with Porte in third at 17 seconds.

Froome now sits in eighth place overall, one place ahead of 21-year-old British rider Hugh Carthy (Caja Rural) who has made an solid impression on the race’s mountain stages.

Geraint Thomas (Sky) finished 74th on the stage, 14-33 behind De Gendt and is 53rd overall.

With the race’s high mountain stages now completed, the opportunities for riders with general classification aspirations to gain time is significantly reduced. However, Friday’s stage five from Rialp to Valls includes the second-category climb and descent of Alt de Lilla within the final 10km, perhaps offering a springboard for an attack.

The 2016 Volta a Catalunya concludes on Sunday, March 27, in Barcelona.

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